Research links damaged organs to change in biochemical wave patterns

Research links damaged organs to change in biochemical wave patterns: What Cheng found is that as the population of inactive beads increases, the resulting wave patterns transform from target-shaped to spiral-shaped. The inference, Cheng notes, is that as tissue of an organ becomes more diseased and greater numbers of cells die, the biochemical reactions involving that organ will produce spiral wavelets instead of target wavelets.

This corresponds, Cheng notes, to observations made with electrocardiograms that reveal a change from pane-wave to spiral wavelets accompanying the procession from normal sinus rhythm to ventricular fibrillation, a cause of cardiac arrest.

Recognizing these wave patterns and what they represent, Cheng says, may lead to a better and more timely understanding of the structure of a diseased organ. This knowledge, he adds, could help determine whether an organ is becoming diseased as well as the extent of damage to an organ once it is diseased.